In 1996 the ‘Black Horse Inn Golf Society’ (BHIGS), based at the Black Horse Inn, Nuthurst, West Sussex, was formed by the then owner and a few ‘regulars’ who had a common interest in the game of golf and the occasional pint or two !

In addition to arranging golf days and other events for the enjoyment of members, their guests and partners, a key objective of the Society has been to raise money for both national and local charities.

In the eighteen years since it’s formation, BHIGS has donated a total of over £36,000 to fifteen different charities mainly in Sussex. These include St. Catherine’s Hospice and Horsham based Springboard and Phoenix.

The Society holds nine golfing events each year at various venues in the South. It currently has 36 members and the annually elected Captain nominates a Charity. For 2014, Steve Holloway chose Macmillan Cancer Support as this had a special significance for him. In his own words “2 years ago my father was diagnosed with multiple myeloma which is a cancer of the blood cells in the bone marrow that erodes away the skeletal system. If not treated with drugs and chemotherapy, the body collapses.

“My father was allocated a Macmillan nurse at East Surrey Hospital. Being partially deaf, he had difficulty in understanding the treatment programme so the Macmillan nurse explained the process to me, so I could pass it on to dad.

“They were extremely patient with him over the months. He suffered a lot of pain with a fractured bone in his spine due to his condition. He always looked forward to seeing the nurses as they always cheered him up, even though he was in extremely discomfort.

“He fortunately now is in remission but is still under the watchful eye of Macmillan nurses for whom we are extremely grateful.”

£600 was raised by Society members and friends and in handing over a cheque to Macmillan’s regional representative Steph Georgalakis, she said : “We really can’t thank the Black Horse Inn Golf Society enough for choosing to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support once again. Five years from now half of us will face cancer during our lives and at Macmillan we want to ensure that no one faces cancer alone. Donations such as this will help towards ensuring that no one does” (for more information visit www.macmillan.org.uk)

Our thanks to landlord Rob of The Black Horse for hosting and continuing to support the Golf Society. The charity chosen by our 2015 Captain, Janet Tong, is Sussex Air Ambulance